Acrophobia
by PlayingwithIce
Summary: When high school Junior Juanita Rizo steps in a puddle she makes a bigger splash than she expects when she lands in the world of One Piece where she learns that in order to fulfill her preordained destiny she must become stronger, smarter and most importantly figure out how her new powers work and have the courage to use them. Basically your classic Oc falls into One Piece story.
1. Chapter 1: Splash

I stare sorrowfully at the single piece of gum in my hand. I'm trying to delay putting it in my mouth because its going to be the only thing warding off the hunger for who knows how long. I've already been here for half a day and my stomach is growling resentfully due the fact that I chose to forego breakfast in favor of more sleep, clearly a mistake because I could be getting as much sleep as I wanted right now. I'm struggling to ignore the dreadful food item which I have pushed as far as possible from me, hence the gum which I found in my pocket.

I continue to stare at the increasingly delicious smelling mint gum for what feel like hours until my stomach makes a decision for me and I unwrap it half way and bite a piece off. Hopefully it will last me longer this way. I stare forlornly out at the sea that's causing my little row boat to bob and sway gently. I'm still not quite sure how I got here. It must've been about six hours ago. I'm not quite sure though because my watch isn't working properly. Currently the date read 21 and it said the time was six o'clock, while in actuality the date was the 3rd of November and judging by the suns position it was high noon.

I can really only sigh at my luck. I've been thinking about how it all happened for a while and have been wondering what I did to deserve this. For me it started this morning, but I have a hunch that it truly started long before that.

_Flashback_

_An obnoxious marimba tune penetrated the velvety, warm, blackness of my sleep. I groaned and mumbled some words that were unintelligible to even myself as I rolled over and groped blindly for my Ipod. The screen felt cool to my touch as I typed in the password with a practiced ease. I dropped the sleek black device back onto its original position on the carpet._

_I blew some strands of my frizzy brunette hair out of my face while I considered my options. I was so warm and comfortable that there really was no choice in the matter. I curled up on myself pulling my blanket up to my head and drifted back into a blissful half sleep. Who needs breakfast anyway?_

_The next time I was confronted with a wake up call there was very little decision making on my part. "_Hija_!? Juanita! You need to wake up! You're going to be late!" At the sound of my _Madre's _voice_,_ I roll out of bed and spring to my feet, tugging off my shirt as I go. I quickly select a black tee and my usual blue zip up hoodie along with a pair of jean capri's. I pop on my black framed glasses as I hurry out of my room and swing into the bathroom where I desperately tug a brush through my stubborn curls. I eventually give up with a frustrated huff when I tug at my scalp too painfully one too many times. I end up just pulling my hair back like I usually do. After polishing up my teeth with an extreme speed that caused my gums to sting I dash down the stairs taking them two at a time. I quickly zip up my boots and snag my backpack with my hand as I manhandle the door, calling a quick "_Adios" _as I sprint out the door._

_I love to run places, the wind in my face that draws back my irritating curls, and the feeling that if I were to hop into the air and spread my arms I could fly away. I was never a sprinter in school though. It seemed so pointless just to be running in circles. I did however play soccer until I broke my foot and decided not to go back afterwards. _

_I'm really not a very motivated person. I've never really had any goals in my life besides get home and read manga. It's a mindset my two best friend share with me and we often spend hours debating things anime related. I personally think that One Piece was one of the best stories ever written. However one of my friends claims that Katekyo Hitman Reborn is better, while the third vouches for Naruto._

_Personally I like all three, but I've always felt a special tug towards One Piece. I just love how the characters interact and the storyline is so well thought out. Little did I realize that the abnormally bright blue puddle that I was just about to splash through was going to make my bond with One Piece a heck of a lot stronger._

_I yelped in shock as my leg sunk straight into the sapphire water which was far deeper than it should be. My momentum caused my body to lurch forward unsteadily. I braced myself expecting an impact with wet cement, but I fell straight through the puddle._

_Suddenly my surroundings started twisting around itself and I started to feel dizzy and very queasy. With my flailing arms I clutched at my churning stomach. After a moment I realized that the world wasn't twisting, I was flipping over myself in a frightening free fall. I was too disoriented to make out much else so my body took over for me and plunged me into the safety of unconciousness._

And that is how I ended up here. When I came to, I was surprisingly still in one piece, my head hurt a little but nothing besides that. I was sitting in this little swaying rowboat, which had no oars, but my back pack was sitting next to me along with what looked like a long wooden staff. Behind my bag sat an innocent piece of fruit (which I am currently in the process of ignoring, if you recall) which resembled a blue and lavender pineapple. I had some suspicions about what it really was, so I pushed it away, I did not want to be tempted.

Behind me the sun was rising gloriously over the infinite watery horizon, it's golden rays reflecting beautifully off the water and lighting the sky a gorgeous grapefruit color. Right now the sky is bright blue. I wish I could appreciate my surroundings more, but I'm pretty caught up in my dilemma.

I rub at my birthmark that's under my right collar bone, trying to get at the tingly feeling under my skin. The area is a little darker than my regular olive skin tone that I inherited from my parents. It resembles a swirl. My two friends have birthmarks too, Bekka's looks like a paint splatter, and is on her right shoulder, but since she's not very artistic we now say it's a sun. The third we claim looks like a droplet of water and it rests on the right side of Libby's back. These marks are why we call ourselves sisters in spirit.

Thinking about my friends is really not helping my impending depression, so I dig through my backpack instead. It's heavily weighed down by my Algebra and Biology text books. I, of course, forgot to pack my Ipod on the one day I really needed it. My little slide phone is useless without reception. Really it's not that I don't have anything to do, it's just that I'm in a bad mood, like I said earlier no motivation whatsoever.

Anyhow right now the most important thing right now was the fact that I really needed to use the bathroom. I have no idea what to do. How do I even do this? No one ever says anything about that in One Piece! Luffy and Zoro spent ages in a little row boat like mine, they must have gone sometime. It's probably easier for them anyway because they're guys. None of the fanfics ever address this problem am I the only one who ever asks the serious questions around here?

Lets take inventory of my situation:

Watch? Broken. Food? Only an evil fruit and half a stick of gum. Location? I have no clue whatsoever. Water? None besides the ocean. Cell phone? No reception. Ipod? In my bedroom where I left it. Boredom level? High. So all in all situation? Hell. I sigh.

Maybe I'll just take a nap, it should get my mind off my problems and I'm a light sleeper so I should wake up if something happens. Hopefully…

I lie down on the uncomfortable wooden boards and use my bag as a pillow, which, despite it's lumpiness, is better than nothing. I spit out my gum and close my eyes and let the swaying rock me to sleep.

I dream I am sitting on a cloud and Libby and Bekka sit next to me. Infront of us is a temple. Ancient and weathered carvings sprawl across it's crumbling walls. I get up and start walking towards it in a daze that is common in my dreams. I turn back to beckon to my friends, but they seem to be asleep. I shrug and turn and sort of glide towards the old walls. I smell something sweet, almost sickeningly so. It invades my nose and wafts into my mouth. My stomach turns over uncomfortably and I feel a tugging on my esophagus, urging me to gag. I swallow in order to push the feeling back and I continue inside.

Tall columns similar to those common in ancient Greece dot the building. The room I stand is domed. In the center stands a big circular slab on a pedestal. Light from a skylight in the ceiling gives it an ethereal glow. I cautiously approach it. On it are three engravings placed and equal distance from each other in a triangle. I finger the one directly in front of me. The cold feeling of the edge surprises me. At closer examination I realize that the swirling shape is inlaid with a silvery metal on the edges, keeping it safe from the erosion that has affected the sand colored stone used for the table and the rest of the temple.

Suddenly the engraving glows a bright white and the disgusting sweetness fills my mouth again flooding my taste buds and forcing itself down my throught and up my nose. I stumble back from the slab unsteadily, as the heady scent mists through my mind and causes my body to tingle. The temple begins to rumble and chunks of stone from the domed roof begin to crumble to the ground.

At the second rumble I wake up with a jolt. The tingling hasn't left my body and the taste still lingers in my mouth. My hands are sticky with some blue violet liquid that is also dripping from my lips. My eyes when I realize what this means. A third rumble brings me out of my panicked state. My eyes turn to the horizon and see the roiling mass of clouds and water looming darkly and fast approaching.

My distress returns immediately and burns in my stomach. An incoming storm and I managed to eat a devil fruit in my sleep. I certainly wouldn't make it out alive. I shoulder my backpack and grab the long wooden stick with one hand while gripping tightly at the side of my boat with the other, just in time for the first wave to crash into me and drench me.

The wind howls around me, whipping my soaked ponytail at my face. I hiss as I'm tossed around painfully and the salty water stings my eyes. I feel my hand losing its hold on the edge of the wood. My knuckles whiten even more as I grip harder. I pray that my glasses stay on my face because I'm practically blind without them.

I look up from my hand and see the enormous wall of water crashing down on me. I don't even have time to scream. The raging waters rip my hand from the boat and capsize it. With a whoosh my breath leaves me and I suddenly feel a lot weaker. Wave after wave slaps over me pulling me violently under. I think I hear a shout from near by, but it's impossible to hear much past the overpowering water and thunder. My hand reaches up past the water, but I can't move much beyond that and soon I am too deep to do anything, but sink.

I try to hold on to what breath I have left. I am determined not to inhale water, but the screaming of my lungs is making that difficult. 'You are having a contest with Bekka, you are having a "how long can you hold your breath for" contest with Bekka.' I chant these two sentences in my head like a mantra, trying to convince myself of their reality. It doesn't work for long. I gasp desperately for air and bubbles leave my mouth and large volumes of water replace them. I think I see something in the water, but I don't really care because I'm going to die anyway. That's my last thought before darkness envelopes me.

On the deck of the Going Merry, Nami was shouting orders to the four other members of the crew while their two guests laughed at their misfortune and inexperience, until Nami forces them to work.

"What's wrong with this ocean!" Nami cried.

"Wow! Our first storm on the Grandline, this is great!" exclaimed an excited captain.

"THAT'S NOT A GOOD THING!" Nami shrieked while she punched Luffy in the face. The deck is chaotic as the crew members dash about lowering and raising the sails and attempting to sail the ship in the right direction. Zoro on the other hand was taking a peaceful nap. Usopp attempts to wake him several times as he runs past.

"Naaamiii swaaan! There's a capsized dinghy off the starboard side!" Sanji called over to his beautiful navigator. She peered over Merry's edge and saw the little boat thrashing about in the water, not too far away.

"Can you see anyone Sanji?" She shouted back at him. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if she let someone drown in the storm, especially if that someone had money on them. Sanji squinted out at the violent waters. He couldn't really see much. Wait. There. A hand was reaching out. It could be a devil fruit user reaching out with the last of their strength.

"I see someone! I'm going in!" The cook calls over his shoulder as he dives over the railing. He allows himself a smile as he streaks though the waves. As someone who grew up on a boat, he was easily the fastest swimmer of everyone on the Merry. He soon reached the overturned dinghy. He then dove down and caught sigh of a receding body. He grasped the outstretched hand of the drowning person and tugged them to the surface. They were relatively light and he easily made it back to the Merry while keeping their head out of the water. Luffy Usopp, and a reluctant Mr. 9 threw him a rope and he grabbed hold and they began to pull him up.

Nami sighed with relief seeing that Sanji had successfully rescued the person who looked to be a teenaged girl. The storm was subsiding too. Things were looking up. She hopped down the stairs to see the new person, whom Sanji had lain out on the deck.

"Is she alright?" The girl chose this moment to cough up water.

**So first chapter! What do you guys think? This is unfortunately unbeta'd so if anyone notices any mistakes please let me know so I can fix them.**

**Translations:**

**Madre: Mother**

**Hija: Daughter**

**Adios: Bye **

**I would love it if people reviewed since this is my first story!**


	2. Chapter 2: Enter JAAR

**I realized I forgot to say this in the first chapter, but I don't own One Piece or pretty much anything besides Juanita.**

When I started to come to, there was this strange gurgling noise reached my ears and my throat ached. It took me a little to realize that the gurgling was coming from my throat. After that little epiphany I started spewing water like some kind of demented drinking fountain. Some one gave a shout and there was some laughter. I slowly opened my eyes and saw some people who looked suspiciously like Strawhat Pirates. The one who I assume is Sanji had fallen on his back and was rubbing his eyes furiously while the Luffy looking person laughed his head off. I think I might have spat water into the blonde's face while he was hovering over me.

I try and apologize, but I end up hacking up more water instead. Ugh I am completely soaked and I hurt everywhere. My hand especially, I look at it and see that I am still holding the wooden staff. I quickly let go. I groan a little as I sit up.

"Hey take it easy, you nearly drowned." says a voice behind me. I turn and see someone who appears to be Nami. I'm trying not to assume that they are actually the Strawhats because they could always be cosplayers or something, although I doubt a whole bunch of cosplayers who look exactly like the characters would be out somewhere in the middle of the ocean right after a storm on a ship that is identical to the Going Merry. "Here," the Nami person holds her hand to help me up and I take it. "I'm Nami, the navigator on this ship. Nice to meet you." I give her a little wave while I'm trying to clear my throat, aware of the fact that I'm making a very bad first impression.

The Sanji person seems to have recovered and starts swooning over me which I find is very disconcerting. "Hello, Mademoiselle, my name is Sanji, it is an honor to have saved such a beautiful maiden such as yourself." My face flushes as I am not used to being flirted with ever.

"Bonjour." I say with a little scratchy and choked laugh. I swear I can see little hearts in his eyes as he wiggles away in his bliss.

"Ignore him, he does that all the time, he's our cook by the way." Nami explains. "The one with the long nose over there is Usopp." She tells me while pointing over to the Usopp looking one, who grins and waves.

"Hi, I'm Usopp, a brave warrior of the sea and captain of this ship!" He states proudly. I look at him skeptically.

"Really?" I ask with a raised eyebrow. He deflates visibly.

"Shishishishi, she's got you Usopp!" The strawhatted boy stretches his arm, grabs the mast and slingshots himself over. Well that removes all doubt from my mind about their authenticity. I think my jaw drops a little watching it though. "Hey, I'm Luffy, I'm a rubber man and I'm gonna be the king of the pirates!"

"Wow okay, well then I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume that you're the real captain." I think I hear Usopp grumble a little off to my right.

"Yup that's right! So what's your name?"

"Me? Oh I'm Juanita Alejandra Adela Rizo, but you can just call me Nita." Yeah I know my initials spell Jaar. My brother started calling me Jar Jar Blinks and it stuck with my friends, but it annoys me to no end. I often remind them that my name has two A's but they ignore me.

"Wow, that's a bit of a mouthful." Nami says.

"I know right, but that's what nicknames are for right?" I say with a crooked grin.

She smiles back at me and points to the other two people who are standing behind her, one with startlingly blue hair and the other with strange markings on his face. "These are two guests we're bringing over to the next island, Ms. Wednesday and Mr. 9 right?" They nod in acknowledgement. A loud snore from the cabin wall causes the Navigator's head to snap in that direction. "And that LAZY ASS over there is Zoro." She shouts attempting to get his attention.

"He's my first mate!" interjects Luffy cheerfully.

"So how come you were out in that storm? It's pretty far from the nearest island…" Usopp inquires curiously. I laugh nervously. How was I going to explain this?

"Well you see, I was just heading to school," I say pointing at my bag. I came to the decision that I was going to twist the truth just enough so that I don't sound clinically insane. "And I guess I must have passed out on my way there or something because the next thing I knew I was lying in a little boat with my bag, this staff, and a blue pineapple. The weird thing is that my town is inland and the nearest body of water is hours away and it's not even the ocean it's just a really big lake and by the time I woke up it looked like only an hour or so had passed, so unless I was out for two or more days there's no way I could have gotten on the ocean." I explain while nodding sagely at my own words.

"I guess what they say is true then, weird things do happen on the Grandline!" says the wide eyed sniper.

"W-wait, earlier you said something about a pineapple?" Nami's voice shakes a little as she presses me for information. I let out a grumble and blow a few loose hairs from my face with an exasperated huff.

"Yes well, about that, I'm such an _idiota_! Urk…I'm having a hard time talking about this because the story is _muy estupido_." I mumble in frustration. I tend to start switching into _espanol _when I'm upset. "Alright," I say after a calming breath. "of course I recognized it for what it was immediately. I mean it was pretty obvious, who's ever heard of a blue pineapple? It could only be a _fruta del Diablo,_ a devil fruit. I knew the dangers of something like that and obviously wanted to avoid eating it because I was in the middle of a freaking ocean! So I pushed it away from me, but then I took a nap and I guess I must have been so hungry that I…ugh!" I am so pissed about this! "I ate it in my sleep." I say with a resigned sigh.

"Whaaaat?" Nami, Usopp, Vivi in disguise and Mr.9 say in chorus.

"Sounds like something Luffy would do." looks as though a certain green haired swordsman has risen. Nami is on him with her iron fist of justice almost immediately.

"DID YOU HAVE A NICE NAP?!" Several lumps protrude from Zoro's grassy looking head. Speaking of naps, the reason I took one earlier was…

"Hey, uh, I don't mean to be rude or anything, but do you think I could use your bathroom?" I ask jumpily. Nami looks me up and down once.

"Oh yeah you're all wet, do you have something to change into?" Well that wasn't the reason why I need to go, but that too. I pick up my backpack and gesture to it.

"Yeah I've got some clothes in here."

"But won't they be wet too?" She looks at the bag skeptically.

"It's my gym clothes so they're designed to dry quickly. I'll be fine." She points the bathroom out to me and I run off.

When I come out I am more dry, relieved and wearing my black gym shorts along with my orange gym shirt. My hoodie is tied around my waist because I couldn't live without it.

As soon as I exit the door way Sanji makes an attempt to present flowers to me while making some cheesy comment about my beauty in comparison to them which is frankly way too over used. Unfortunately for me Sanji's version of presenting flowers is more like shoving them up my nose, probably because he was expecting me to be taller. All I can think is 'uh oh' before I feel the first tickling in my nose. "Sanji you might want to mo-ah-AHCHOO." I sneeze violently into the flowers. In case you haven't guessed I have minor pollen allergy. I continue to sneeze, probably blowing snot all over Sanji. Serves him right for trying to turn the inside of my nose into a flower garden!

"Stupid _flores_ making me- AH CHOO- sneeze!" I growl as I snatch the offending plants and stalk over to the railing, while my nose continues to expel whatever was in it. I then proceed to chuck them of into the ocean. "Go to hell!" When I turned around and dusted my hands off I noticed that everyone was staring at me wide eyed while Luffy was just laughing. "Oh sorry, uh that was kind of over dramatic of me. One of my best friends back home is really, shall we say, enthusiastic and it tends to rub off on me." Sanji quickly escapes from his stupor.

"Nita chan is so cute when she's upset!" He says with a love struck smile on his face. Zoro just snorts.

"That's a nice afro, Nita!" exclaims with a giggle from his spot on Merry's head. It takes me a minute to figure out that he's talking about my hair. I don't say anything though, knowing that it's impossible to get anything through his thick skull. I just give him the most deadpan glare ever to grace this earth. My hair gets really frizzy after it's been wet, but I know it doesn't turn into an afro! I even checked my hair in the mirror although I made no attempt to try and tame it. Nami just sighs and face palms, then she turns to me.

" So earlier you said you ate a devil fruit. Do you have any idea which one it was?"

"Does it really matter as long as she doesn't use it against us?" Zoro says critically. Well _he's_ totally not suspicious of me.

"First of all, if I had wanted to harm you guys I would have done it already. I certainly had many opportunities. You guys are way too trusting." I inform them while giving the Baroque works pair a pointed look, I see them flinch a little. "Secondly, I have no idea what power I've gained from the fruit, but I hope it's not something lame like, turning into paper or something. I mean I guess I could give people some wicked paper cuts, maybe I could fold my self into a paper airplane? Or into an origami crane? Oh! What if I drew on myself in paper form, like I could draw myself taller? And then when I revert back to normal I would actually be taller! That would actually be really nice. But maybe not worth losing my ability swim for? I don't know…I should really bring this question to debate club. Is eating a devil's fruit and gaining a power that could potentially make you a lot stronger or end up being dumb worth causing you to sink like an anchor in water?" I sigh in quiet contemplation. "I guess it would depend on the person, and their goals and values. Also properly addressing the question would mean you would have to figure out the probability of getting a useful fruit by your standards versus getting a lame one." Usopp looks from Zoro to Nami and back again.

"Does anyone get what she's talking about?" Zoro just shakes his head, while Nami on the other hand seems to have grasped the topic at hand better.

Luffy just laughs after jumping off his special seat and says "You say funny things Nita." Then Sanji kicks him.

"It's not her fault you're too dumb to get it!" He growls at his captain, who was lying on the floor grumbling.

"Come on, admit it love cook! You didn't understand a thing either." Zoro shoots over his shoulder as he walks towards the mast, maybe to take another nap.

"What was that, stupid marimo?!" Within moments they were butting heads. Nami and I just face plam while standing on the side.

"It wasn't really that complex of a subject, was it?" I say with furrowed brows.

"No it wasn't it's just…"

"Men." We sighed in unison. She smiled at me.

" I think we're gonna get along. " I tell her. Nami was never really my favorite character, but she was the only female on board and I would need her navigation skills if I wanted to get back home.

" You know what would make us get along more?" She looks at me with an excited gleam in her eye, I had a feeling I knew what was coming next. "Money! You know as payment for saving your life."

I laugh a little and pull out my bag. "Well my home land doesn't use Belli as a currency, but you can still have some money." Nami drooped visibly as I said that. In an attempt to cheer her up I continue. "It does look cool. Maybe you could still sell it or something?" I pull out my wallet and pull out a few ones and fives along with some quarters to show her. She takes them at looks at them with a critical eye. We chat for a while about the money. I explain the symbols represented on the money and talk a little bit about the presidents printed on the currency without making myself look too suspicious.

Suddenly Usopp calls out, "An island I see and island!" Luffy looks out and sees it to.

"Giant Cactuses I see them!" I turn to him with a frown.

"The plural of Cactus is_ Cacti, _Luffy." The pair that the strawhats were dropping off jumped to the railing.

"This is where we part ways! If fate allows perhaps we will meet again!" They look up with a scary amount of synchronization, "Bye bye, baby!" And off in to the water they went. I remembered sadly that I would never be able to do that again.

I stood off to the side while the crew discussed entering Whiskey Peak because I didn't want to butt in. I really couldn't afford getting attached. That would just make it harder to leave when the time comes. I mean I still have family back home. My parents and maybe even Jose my older brother who was in his last year of college would be worried about me.

I think I caught Luffy giving me a glance once or twice that I couldn't quite decipher while I was messing around with my staff. Eventually they sailed into the river, but the fog was too thick. However we could hear people's voices.

I knew what to expect so I wasn't surprised when cheering masses of people appeared from the fog to greet us, but every one else was shocked and delighted, especially Luffy. The crew waved at the cheering masses. I couldn't help, but be reminded of celebrities greeting their fans from back home.

Once we were docked Igarapoi, Mayor of Whiskey Peak (aka Igram) spoke to us and invited us to stay for a party in the pirates honor. I shrunk back hoping to stay behind, it would be easier for later when the bounty hunters attacked, but Luffy grabbed my arm and pulled me over.

"Where are you going Nita? It's a party!" I try to pry his hands off my arm, but he's inhumanly strong.

"Uh, well Luffy I can't come to this party," I try to come up with a good excuse. "This party is for you and your crew, I'm not the one who made the grueling journey to the Grandline!"

"It's ok you have my permission to come!" says cheerfully as he drags me along. I sigh and drop my bag, but keep my staff with me. This is going to be a long night.

The party has been going on for a few hours now and I've had to be as creative as possible to throw suspicion off myself. I couldn't let anyone know that I knew about Baroque works. The easiest way to do this of course would have been to actually fall asleep and ignore the impending attack, but what if my presence in this world screwed up the plot line enough for the crew to actually be captured so I'd rather be there to help than not. Plus since I didn't have a bounty they might just kill me.

So what I've been doing is listening to Usopp tell stories, while trying to figure out how to get rid of the alcohol in my hands because since I have never had any my tolerance for it will be presumably low so I'd probably end up drunk and passed out before I even finished half of a glass. Once I 'drunkenly' spilled some over the person sitting next to me. Another time I 'drank' some so messily that most of spilled down onto the floor and I spat out the rest while I wiped my mouth. The best of all of these was when I drank a mouthful, but kept it in my cheek and when Usopp got to a funny part of his story I would spray it out while laughing in a hilarious fountain of rum. I also made sure to imitate Usopp in his drunken mannerisms.

Later on when Zoro crashed I took that as my cue. I swayed precariously and fell sideways trying hard not to break my fall with my hands. The bounty hunters in disguise laughed at that, while also mourning the loss of food to Luffy. I steadied my breathing and tried not to actually fall asleep, time to wait.

**Wow our Nita is a bit eccentric. Anyhow how'd you like the new chapter? It's a little longer than the last one. Oh and by the way I'm going to try for weekly updates, but if not then once every two weeks. Reviews are appreciated! :)**

**Translations:**

**Idiota- idiot**

**Muy estupido- very stupid**

**Espanol- Spanish**

**Frutta del Diablo- devil fruit**

**Flores- flowers**


	3. Chapter 3: Of Swordsmen and Princesses

**Sadly I don't One Piece or any of it's characters, but I do own my OCs so happy day.**

Just a word of advice to everyone out there, don't fall into another world, get stuck in storm after eating a fruit that prevents you from swimming, nearly drown, end up on ship full of excitable pirates and get dragged to a party where you have to fake passing out and then stay awake for the rest of night without having anyone find out that you're actually awake. Just don't, ok. You will end up way too tired.

Half of the time that I was laying there I had to keep my eyes closed, which was infuriating because I couldn't see what was going on. I was considering popping the other half of my gum into my mouth to keep myself awake, but they I realized that earlier it had been soaked in salt water and would be all soggy, plus probably wouldn't be able to pull it off without being seen.

After I heard that cries that Nami had finally passed out I figured it could only be a little longer till I could get up but, no. What the manga made seem like five minutes must have been at least another forty five minutes or more. Sleep seemed like a really good idea. I was warm and full, and couldn't open my eyes anyway. I could feel myself start dozing off and there was nothing I could really do about it.

At the sound of footsteps my eyes snapped open and I jumped up, which is actually my normal reaction when I hear someone approach me while I'm sleeping. Mostly because it's usually my _Madre_, coming to wake me up, which means I'm late. I realized my mistake to late though. The cold blade of a sword rests menacingly at my throat. I don't think I have ever stood so still in my life. Maybe I ate a fruit that turns me to stone because that's how I feel right now. With a hitched breath I look down at the blade that glistens threateningly at me, without moving my head. There was something about it that was familiar.

"Wait a second, this katana…Wado Ichimonji!" I look accusingly at the green haired man behind me. "Really, Zoro, really?!" He glares at me and lowers his sword, however he doesn't sheath it. I can see his hand is still tense in case he needs to attack on a moments notice.

"How did you know it was Wado?" He says surprised that I recognized his blade.

"Well I may not be an expert on swords or on how to wield them, but even I can tell when a katana is one of the world's twenty-one finest." Especially when it's wielded by one of my favorite characters in One Piece, but I don't mention that. He nods, with, dare I say it, a new found respect for me. That might just be my inner fan girl talking though and it doesn't help that he has to look down to talk to me because I'm so short.

"How long were you awake for?" he asks me.

"I was never a sleep in the first place." I inform him with a hint of pride.

He raises an eyebrow, "You looked pretty passed out to me."

"First of all it's not that hard to pretend to be asleep if even you can do it." The swordsman interjects with an insulted 'Hey!' but I ignore it and continue, "Also I have had the longest day of my life, I think I have a right to not be in top form." He just snorts. Very attractive, Zoro, very attractive, please note my use of sarcasm.

"So if you were pretending to be asleep…that must mean that you knew they were Baroque Works, or are you working for them?" Geez, so quick to accuse people of being against you, Zoro, instead of saying that, I just shake my head.

"I didn't know they were Baroque Works, whatever that is," I say feigning ignorance, "I just figured out that they were bounty hunters."

"Why didn't you say anything to us then?"

"Well what did you want me to do, just yell out in the middle of the celebration, 'Hey Strawhats, these guys are all bounty hunters who want to take your head' or what? And honestly I could ask you the same question, because out of the two of us you are the one most likely to be working with bounty hunters, Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro." I deadpan while fixing him with a steady stare. He finally relaxes, and gives me a conceding nod.

"Well the fact that I was just going to deal with them, should be enough proof that I'm not on their side."

"Alright then, let's get going!" I say while stretching and silently making my way over to where my staff, figuring it's really my only decent weapon the moment and the universe clearly wants me to use it, because why else would I land in a boat with it in it. Man that sounded crazy, if my life was a fandom there would already be at least ten different coma theories.

We make our way outside as quietly as possible, as not to alert the bounty hunters of our escape. Once we start hearing the voices of the numbered agents we stop. Zoro motions that he wants us to go on the roofs. I look up at the tall adobe buildings and cringe inwardly. Nope not happening, I am not going up on that roof, that doesn't seem safe in the least. 'I'll circle around and catch them from the other side.' I mime enthusiastically back at Zoro, attempting to mask my discomfort with strategy. He frowns for a minute in concentration then nods and begins to scale the wall of the building next to us. I dash in the opposite direction, avoiding the occasional person patrolling. My small size helps me hide myself and my shadow cast by moonlight in the shadows of crates and buildings.

I think I'm more used to having my staff in my hands now. It's a comfortable weight, instead of an unwieldy stick that I'll probably end up hitting myself with like I did a few times earlier on the Merry. I grasp it a little tighter once I reach the other side of the clearing where Mr. 9 and 8 along with Ms. Monday and Wednesday were talking about tying us up to get our bounties, the government liking public executions and what not. I conceal myself with the assistance of some of the desert shrubbery. With my back to the ocean and the moon ahead I see Zoro's spiky green marimo head peaking over an opposing building and I signal to him to tell him I'm in position. He sits upright and raises Wado to get their attention.

"Hey, do you think you could let my crewmates rest for a while longer. We had a pretty exhausting trip." He says with a smirk on his face. Suddenly someone bursts from one of the shadowy alleys.

"Two of the crew have escaped!"

"Really, now? I had no idea!" I say, quietly extracting myself from the shadows as well. Igram looks from Zoro to myself and back again.

"Weren't you two unconscious from your copious alcohol consumption?" Zoro proceeds to say something that may have seemed badass about swordsmen had I not known he was going to say it. Also it doesn't really apply to me so how does that explain how I'm here? Zoro needs to learn that it's okay to deviate a little from the normal plotline to include me. Not that I should really be staying for long, because I do have family and friends waiting for me back home, who are probably worried, or at least I hope they are. Not that I want to cause them worry, but it would be depressing if one day I disappeared and no one noticed or cared. I like it here, and everyone is pleasant and they're all people I've always dreamed of meeting, but there's something special about normality that can make people feel safe and secure.

When I finally removed myself from my thoughts the exact opposite was occurring. I was surrounded by pissed looking bounty hunters, holding weapons.

"Whoa, hey when did you guys get here?" I say shock lacing my voice, as I tighten my grip on my staff.

"WE'VE BEEN HERE!" They shout, outraged that I had been ignoring them.

"Well they seem to know our secret…I think two more tomb stones will be added to cactus rock tonight." exclaims a grim Mr. 8. "Get them!" Zoro however had vanished and reappeared a few feet to my right, assuming the same searching stance as the rest, I followed suit. Suddenly everyone turned with shocked faces, finally noticing our presences.

"So, we gonna start or what?" Zoro asks with a wicked grin on his face. The bounty hunters aim at us and fire, Zoro's gone before the gunshots even sound. I however am not a reincarnation of Sonic the Hedgehog and have to rely on my reflexes to pull my feet out from under me and flatten myself to the ground as bullets fly over my head and embed themselves in the bodies of the shooters comrades.

I have never been more glad that Libby, who's been taking mixed martial arts since she was five insists on spontaneously attacking Bekka and I. Some random time she'll jump at us and attempt to strike us with lightning fast kicks and punches. I could never attack back, but now I can dodge like it's nobodies business. It's so ingrained in my mind that it's almost instinctive. She says it's 'training' in case we're mugged or something. I didn't think it would ever help me in this way.

More enemies come to replace their fallen, allies. Before I hop to my feet I sweep out in a wide arc and trip them. At the same time Igram is reprimanding everyone for being idiots. In the mean while I continue to attack my opponents, which is to say I club them multiple times till they don't get up anymore. My _Abuelo_ taught me baseball and it's really the only way I know how to wield any kind of stick. My unorthodox style, unfortunately, is not effective in a large group, because I don't dispatch enemies quick enough.

I hiss and bite back a yell as a bullet grazes my left arm, but the adrenalin keeps me from feeling too much pain. Luckily most of them are focused on Zoro and I can keep knocking the ones that get too close to me. I can tell I'm going to need to get a lot stronger if I want to last past the Alabasta Arc. Hopefully I can get home before then.

Suddenly the curly haired mayor raises his Saxophone to his mouth and I realize that I have to scram. I dive behind a building as people are blown away. Zoro, who is standing next to me, sighs in relief.

"Was that some kind of shot gun?" He asks quietly.

"Seems pretty dangerous." I reply. He jumps at the sound of my voice.

"When did you get here?!" He exclaims, shocked that I could sneak up on him.

"I've been here!" I whisper loudly, with furrowed brows.

"It's just 'cause you're short that I didn't notice you." He replies with an angry glare, his pride injured.

"Excuse me?! That was cold, that was so cold. In fact, that was so cold it's like you are sitting in a deep freezer, at the bottom of the ocean, by a winter island…in space!" I retort furiously. Of course he had to bring up my height, one of my biggest insecurities. At five feet I am easily the shortest person on the crew. I huff exasperatedly, "You know what? We don't have time for this. They're probably regrouping as we speak." Zoro nods in agreement and starts to draw his swords. 'Wait…doesn't-?'

"Yeehaw! I found them!" I shove Zoro and myself into the door of the building we are standing by.

"Do a barrel roll!" I shout as we tumble through the entrance. Zoro lands in a smooth crouch while I fall on my back after accidentally catching myself with my injured arm. "_Ay dios mio!_ They've got us surrounded!" I gasp urgently to Zoro as I have the better vantage point. I hear the frightening click of cocking pistols and I realize that I won't be able to dodge this time, no matter how much Libby 'trained' me.

I let out a pained gasp as I feel a rough hand grab my bleeding arm. Zoro practically drags me to the side and I lurch forward and help him pull up the table just as the shots are fired. Out of sheer luck none of the bullets that penetrate the table hit either of us. I let go of a breath I didn't know I was holding. Zoro puts a hand on my shoulder as he unsheathes Yubashiri.

"First I'll try this one, you stay here." I nod and give him a solemn smile, while I grip my staff with two hands preparing to defend myself. With a swift slice our table shelter is split into two perfect halves, reminding me of one of the indestructible room riddles in which there is only a table and in order to get out you split the table in half. Then two halves make a whole, you jump through the hole and you're out. It's just wordplay; really, it's weird that I'd think of it right now though.

Zoro, unaware of my straying thoughts has already twisted himself in a vicious corkscrewing strike that slides him out of the building. I hop to my feet and deal with any of the fallen that try to get back up, by smacking them over the head a few times with my staff, not wanting to feel completely useless. Some noisy thumps from the ceiling tell me that Zoro must have run up the stairs and is fighting there now, the subsequent roar of anger tells me Miss Monday has arrived. I run outside, just in time for the green haired man to cut a stone axe without even meaning to. He looks at his third katana, his Sandai Kitetsu, with a frown and mumbles something about it being trouble. People then begin chasing him up stairs and all over the roofs of Whiskey Peak. It would have been funny to watch if I didn't have some of my own problems.

The bounty hunters that remained below started chasing me down and I couldn't take them on all at once. I started sprinting through the adobe housing and pushing furniture in their way while zigzagging insanely to avoid being shot at or hit by throwing knives and who knows what else. Once I entered my fifth house I saw my chance. The entrance had one of those doors that was split in half, where you could swing one shut at a time. I twisted my body at the last minute as I practically flew through the door way and slammed the top half shut. Then after sliding to a halt I swept my staff out through the bottom half bringing my already stunned pursuers to their knees. I quickly proceeded to shut the bottom half as well and sighed with relief.

Unfortunately it was out of the frying pan and into the fire for me because a grating 'Schk' and loud shrieks meant that Zoro had just cut open the ceiling and a bunch of his attackers had fallen through… On top of me. I managed to get out of the way for the most part, but part of the roof still caught my leg. I cried out in pain, fortunately for me the material seems to be pretty light, but the weight of the people was what kept my injured limb pinned down.

"Ugh…_muy…pesado."_ I gasped out as I tried to lift the circular ceiling chunk along with unconscious enemies off myself. I was distracted, however, by and enraged Miss Monday leaping over the hole above me with a huge ladder in her arms. I knew exactly who she was about to attack. "Zoro, _cuidado_! Behind you!" I call out desperately. The floor cracks as they exchange blows. I hear the shocked gasps that signify the enormous woman's defeat. I push harder on the slab and manage to sidle out. I examine my poor leg, it's already turning an ugly green color. I use my staff as a cane to support myself and limp out, slowly, only to be blown back by Mr. 8's 'killing sound'.

"This just keeps getting better and better."

"Don't be distracted!" Shouts a smug Mr. 9 at an amused marimo, who is watching Miss Wednesday attempt to get Carue to do what she says. The bat wielding numbered agent leaps from the church spire and swings his steel weapons. I look to my side and see a metal ball the size of an apple which was probably fired from something at some point. I pick it up and toss it from hand to hand once or twice.

"Oi, Crown boy!" I shout up. Mr. 9 turns his head. "Batter up!" While leaning heavily on my staff I wind up my arm and throw the ball at him with as much effort as I can muster. While he's distracted with hitting my fast ball Zoro manages to maneuver him off the building. "Strike!" I yell cheerfully when he falls. '_Muchas Gracias, Abuelo, _for making me play baseball with you!'I think gratefully to myself. I lean against a wall to rest. Everyone tries to kill Zoro and fails, then Zoro escapes through the hole he made and ends up running out of the building I'm leaning on. "_Hola,_ Zoro, _Estas bien_? Are you ok?"

"That one curly haired guy is pretty strong." He tells me. Well that's not exactly what I was asking, but okay.

"Hmm, well I'll help out where can." I reply, but I don't think he heard me because at that moment Mr. 9 pops out of the rumble where he fell.

"You got me pretty good last time, but now you won't get away!" He exclaims determinedly. "Flying bat!" The front of one of his bats opens up and extends releasing weighted steel rope which coils around one of Zoro's arms. I speed hobble to retrieve the other bat which the agent had tossed behind him. Vivi-in-disguise uses Luffy as a hostage and Igram prepares to shoot his hair guns (who even think of that, I mean seriously?). Mr. 8 opens fire, but at the same time Zoro jerks on the steel rope. I drop my staff and ready my bat then I slam it into Mr. 9's back giving him enough momentum for Zoro to pull him over his head and blow him up when he intercepts Mr. 8's attack and finally slams into a screaming Miss Wednesday. I drop the bat and pick up my staff from the ground, it wouldn't do to lose it. I stretch in celebration as Zoro takes out Igram. I sit down and extend my foot.

I had barely leaned against the wall when two people arrive. I recognize them as Miss Valentine and Mr. Five. They started speaking with the defeated numbered agents. I shrunk back trying to stay unnoticed as they discussed a traitor in their midst. I watch as Vivi and Igram's resolves strengthen. Igram gets up and attacks Mr.5 and Miss Valentine kicks the former Miss Wednesday in the head. I get up and hobble towards Luffy with the intention to move him out of the way. Zoro reaches him at the same time I do and we drag him into an alley. Well in truth I didn't really help much it was mostly Zoro pulling Luffy and I.

"This's been a long night," He says.

"Tell me about it." I grumble in return. We watch as Vivi prepares to attack the cloaked Mr. 5 and how Mr. 9 gallantly steps in and fights in her place. The black haired man then finishes picking his nose and fires his "booger bullet" at his bat wielding opponent. The explosion is loud and stops Vivi in her tracks.

"His booger is really dangerous." says a sweat dropping Zoro. I just cringe,

"That is disgusting." I then notice that Igram is crawling towards us he grabs my leg first and I topple over and hiss in pain because it was my injured one. Couldn't the guy see the ugly bruises forming? Well in his defense his face is covered in blood so he might not be able to see much of anything. He latches on to Zoro next.

"Swordsman, because you are so strong I need to ask you a favor!" He begs.

"Why should I do anything for you, you tried to kill me!" Zoro replies disbelievingly.

"Those two have devil fruit powers; I need you to protect the princess for me!" He pleads desperately. "If you can take her to the great country of Alabasta, we can repay you with a reward!"

"Really?" says a voice from above us, "How about one billion Bellis?" Nami hops down from the roof she was sitting on as Igram coughs and gags in shock.

"Weren't you asleep?" asks Zoro.

"I was faking the whole thing, aren't I good?" I skeptically raise an eyebrow and adjust my lopsided and dirty glasses. I am so lucky they survived. "So what do you say? Will you pay me, for the safe passage of your princess, Mr. Royal Guard?"

"Well I'm sure if you help the princess she will be more than happy to agree to your terms!"

"Alright! Well go on Zoro!" The navigator says while pointing in Vivi's direction.

"What why do I have to help you?! Do it yourself, its your money!" he shouts.

"Sure it's my money, but if it's about keeping our agreement everyone is involved." Nami explains.

"What! That's so selfish, I don't like being used by people." Zoro retorts.

"Whoa, whoa, guys break it up!" I say as I try to divide them.

"Anyhow you still owe me! I lent you 100,000 Belli at Logue town and you told me you'd pay me back in triple." She reminds him, "Or can't a guy like you keep one measly promise?" Zoro breaks under the crushing wait of the guilt and stomps off.

"Wow, that's a bit harsh, don't you think, Nami?" I say watching him go.

"Nita, let me give you some advice. You need to be comfortable being manipulative if you want to survive in this world!" She frowns at me. I just face palm. She then turns to Igram and questions him about baroque works. I decide to catch up with Zoro since I've heard it all before.

When I reach him Zoro is standing in front of Vivi and Carue. I move to stand next to him. I smile reassuringly at Vivi.

"Looks like we're on your side now, princess." She just looks confused.

"So, you two are the ones who destroyed the town." Say the new numbered agents.

"It was mostly just him, but yeah." I say pointing to Zoro. Suddenly Luffy comes charging at us.

"I won't forgive you guys!" He yells as he runs forward, a lot slower than he would normally be due to his enormous stomach. "I'll destroy the ungrateful!"

"What?" says a confused marimo. 'Uh oh' I think to myself, but stand my ground.

"These guys gave us food and a warm welcome, and what do you do to repay them?" I face palm again. I've been doing that much too often recently.

"Luffy, you don't understand these guys-"I try to explain, but I'm cut off as I'm sent flying into a building, by Luffy's fist.

"Don't make excuses! I thought you were a nice person Nita!" I try to get up, but I'm not strong enough. Well at least now I know my fruit isn't a Logia, because his fist didn't go through me. That just leaves Paramecia and Zoan. I guess turning into an animal could be cool, but it depends on the animal. Getting some kind of big cat would be nice, I love cats.

Luffy proceeds to beat Zoro up and I watch with drooping eyes. The actual enemies get hit in the cross fire a lot two. I let out a dry chuckle as Luffy dragged an unconscious Mr. 5 from the rubble. The rubber captain became a lot skinnier probably from beating the man up. Vivi lets out a surprised yell. Zoro attempts to explain things to Luffy, but ultimately and resigns himself to fighting his captain, while Miss Valentine remains ignored. I am pushed further into the wall from the sheer force of their blows.

Vivi sees her chance and tries to guide Carue through the hectic battle. Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine charge in again.

"We'll show them our real power!" They shout in unison.

"Shut up and don't interfere!" growl the menacing voices of Zoro and Luffy. The two partners back off and are promptly defeated again by the strawhat captain and his first mate, but before they can return to their fight Nami intervenes and punches them both in the face.

"We need to protect that girl, I nearly lost a billion belli!" Nami says reprimanding the two young men while keeping them apart. I take this as my cue to try and get up again. Using my staff as support I manage to lift myself, but my arms and legs are shaking severely and I hobble over to them unsteadily, while Nami explains the situation to Vivi. Eventually Luffy seems to understand what's going on and so does Vivi.

"I'm sorry, but that's impossible I can't pay you." Vivi says sadly.

"What, but aren't you a princess?" Nami questions, with a furrowed brow.

"Have you ever heard of Alabasta?" The princess asks. I choose this time to speak up.

"I think I've heard of it. Isn't it that one country that's having a civil war at the moment?" I interject, figuring that it couldn't do much damage if I revealed a little bit of knowledge.

"That's right, it used to be very peaceful until Baroque Works came along and persuaded citizens to revolt. I knew nothing about this organization though, so I asked Igram, who took care of me since I was a child to help me infiltrate their system." Vivi explained.

"You're a brave princess, that's for sure. Didn't that curly haired guy say something about them wanting to make a dream country?" Zoro inquires.

"Baroque Works told everyone they wanted to make a dream country, but in truth they want to conquer Alabasta. That is why I must return home and warn my people, so their plan will be foiled."

"Hmm I get it now; a nation at war won't have much money." Nami nods understandingly.

"So, who's the boss then?" Luffy asks curiously from his seat atop a barrel.

"Oh no! I couldn't tell you that! It could cost you your life!" Vivi replies, shaking her head furiously.

"Well it's good that you're not telling, because a guy who is attempting to take over such a peaceful company, and who goes to such lengths to hide his identity, would probably chase us to the ends of the earth if we knew." I tell her grinning, not so much because she didn't tell us, but because I knew what would happen next.

"That's true no matter how bad you are, you could never reach the level of Sir Crocodile, on of the Shichibukai." Everyone's jaws drop at that and the princess slaps her hands over her mouth. I face palm again, but mostly to hide my smile.

"Um guys, that vulture and otter…" I point at the two animals on the roof next to us. The otter hops on the vulture's back and with a sweep of it's wings they're off into the sky.

"They just went to go report to your boss that we know his secret didn't they?! Tell me!" Nami screams while shaking a guilty Vivi.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry! It was an accident!" She cries in reply.

"We just got here and a Shichibukai already wants us dead!" Nami weeps in despair.

"Wow we get to meet them so soon!" Luffy says cheerfully.

"That's pretty lucky." His first mate agrees.

"Shut up guys! I'm going they don't know my face yet so I can escape." The navigator starts walking with a resigned wave, until she runs into the otter who is sketching furiously on a pad. When he's done he holds up drawings of all of us, including me.

"Wait hey! I'm not part of their crew! That's not fair! I'm just trying to get home! How am I supposed to get home with Baroque Works chasing after me?!" I sink despairingly to my knees.

"Now I can't run away!" Nami shouts while stomping back, fists clenched at her sides and her teeth grinding against each other.

"Well, I guess we're on their black list now." Zoro says with a smirk.

"This is so exciting!" cheers the rubber captain. The blue haired princess attempts to console Nami with money, but even that doesn't seem to work.

"Please everyone stop worrying! I have a plan." When I turn to see Igram dressed as Vivi, that's all my poor exhausted mind and body can take. I feel very light headed and I begin to sway a little on my feet. I try to hold myself up with my staff, but fail. Eventually I collapse. I'm asleep before I even hit the ground.

**Finally done! That was a super long chapter which hopefully gave everyone some insight to Nita's personality. Also she interacts a lot with Zoro, just cause I love writing conversations between people.** **I got pretty tired of writing the fight scene though, but I really wanted to end the chapter where I did. I also hope you don't mind that I cut out a few explanations which hopefully everyone has heard about before. I'd really appreciate feedback so Review please!**

**Translations:**

_Madre- Mother_

_Abuelo- Grandfather_

_Ay dios mio- Oh my god_

_Muy Pesado-Very heavy_

_Cuidado- Careful_

_Hola- Hello_

_Estas bien?- are you okay?_

_Muchas Gracias, Abuelo- Thank you, Grandfather_


	4. Chapter 4: My Life is a Problem

**I am still here, still writing, still not owning One Piece. Still…**

**Alright now that that's done, next I wanted to thank everyone who has favorited, followed and reviewed. It means so much to me! It's nice to know that I'm not just writing this story for myself and to get it out of my head and you guys keep me really motivated to write despite the workload I've been getting from school. Thanks so much! Here's the next chapter, enjoy!**

When I emerged from the darkness known as my unconscious mind I found myself back in the temple from my dreams. It was surprisingly intact, despite the crumbling I experienced the last time I was here. In all honesty I had forgotten about this place and the dream altogether due to recent events, I certainly never envisioned myself being back in this ancient looking dome. Also I'm much more lucid than during my previous visit.

I look around and notice a few changes. I was standing in front of the large stone slab again and the swirling carving still exuded a gentle white light and seems to pulse at irregular intervals. It did start glowing last I was here though, so that's nothing new, but on the other angle to my left on the triangle was a statue of a tall person with a hand on the slab. In front of the statuary person was the sun carving, which glowed a fierce gold. However the third point upon the slab remained unlit and ordinary. Well as ordinary as a mystical carving on a large stone slab in a large temple sitting on a cloud can get.

I trace the outline of the spiral cautiously with a single finger. My other hand reaches for my right collar bone, as realization dawns on me. I lift the collar of my orange shirt and look beneath it. I inhale sharply, my birthmark seems to have decided it looked to similar to the skin around it and changed to a pale silver. The circular curlicue is easily visible now. I finger the contrasting skin and find it's texture to be the same as it was previously, the skin was just abnormally pale now.

"Well, I see you've survived so far, same with your friend over there." I whirl around and my ponytail slaps me in the face. Behind me stands a teenaged girl with hair that's dyed rainbow and hetero chromic irises to boot. One was black as pitch and the other pale as the moon. Her t-shirt was blue with clouds printed on it and her skirt short and black with rainbow striped leggings underneath. Her worn black combat boots completed the image. Then there were the wings, a tawny brown which I assume is her natural hair color, they fluttered gently. "Hmm, I'm not sure how long you'll last though…well, that's what the trials are for right?" She smirks at me.

"Who are you?" I demand.

"Me, I'm Airez, goddess of messages and bridges. That's why I'm stuck here to explain things to you that was my bridge you step over to get to this new world." She informs me snootily.

"That was supposed to be a bridge?!" I look at her incredulously while remembering my unsavory tumble from the sky. "That particular bit of architecture must have been built pretty lackadaisically."

"No need to be so exceedingly verbose, geez!" The supposed goddess sniffs at me.

"You're being pretty verbose yourself by saying that." I point out. Now she's started an argument, and I'm all fired up.

"I'm a goddess remember, you should treat me with more respect and I don't appreciate your sass!" She says and turns her nose up at me.

"Likewise." I grumble. "Anyhow if you're the one who brought me here can you bring me back?" She just crosses her arms and shifts her weight.

"I can't or well I'm not allowed to, the higher-ups won't let you back till you fix up their little demonic pest problem." I just squint.

"If you're a goddess then you're supervisors must be a lot more powerful. Shouldn't they be able to deal with their own issues sufficiently?" Airez shifts uncomfortably.

"Well there is a certain complication with the wards. Ya see what happened was a long time ago there was a big fight between the current gods and the demons. When the gods beat the demons they put up powerful protective shield things so that no immortal being could pass through. That means them too along with the demons."

"So? There is nothing wrong with that. Powerful wards keep demons in and gods out, no problem." I say confused at where she's going with this.

"Right, but demons are creatures of chaos, they don't follow laws of order like gods do. Basically they can find ways to bend rules unlike gods, so recently they've been changing some of their own to mortals who can now pass through. They've leaked through the defenses and are trying to find ways to take the wards down and we can't do anything about it 'cause we can't get in."

I snort. "Wow, intelligent. So how come I'm here? Last time I was dreaming, so did you put me to sleep? I don't really remember what happened…" I stare up at the domed ceiling trying to recall what had occurred.

"Oh no, I didn't bring you here you passed out. It was pretty sad." Well that's a little embarrassing. She giggles spitefully. "Anyway, I need to start explaining things…um where to start?"

I sigh, "How about my watch it doesn't seem to be working quite properly." I hold up my left wrist for emphasis.

"Oh, right! So when you first got to the world which you call the 'One Piece' world, it was showing 2:00 and the sixteenth day. It's actually a count down to your first trial. By now it should say a different number and that's where you are currently. When the new number reaches the first one then it's time for the trial, so you better be prepared for it." I look down and see that it indeed reads 1:00 and the fifteenth of the month. If the first was 216 and the second is 115…hmm, that can't be the number days that seems like too long…so One Piece…numbers…could it be chapters? That would make sense. If I recall the Alabasta arc ends around the early two hundreds.

"Alright then, I get that, but what are these trials about anyway?" I ask, my brows knitting together.

"Well, you don't think we'd just give the task to you did you? You have to prove yourself first. There are other groups that we could replace you with. That mark on your collar just shows you're one of 'em. You're friends are in the same group with you." She gestures to the statue behind me and I turn to get a better look at it. Now that I examine it more closely it does look familiar. The pixie cut, and gloved hand along with the vest over a large tee and a pair of baggy shorts. Plus the towering height made her unmistakably my best friend Bekka.

"Wait, Bekka's here too? Does that mean Libby's will arrive as well?" If my two closest friends were going to be here then maybe this would be more bearable.

"They are both part of your group, but no they are not in the same realm as you." She whips her multicolored hair back out of her face. I deflate visibly.

"Oh ok." I sigh, but then another question comes to mind. "Why One Piece?"

"Well, that's the thing about my powers. I can only bring you to places you already know about. So when you tripped through that puddle on to my bridge I poked around in your head a little to find the place that would have the potential to make you the strongest with your powers in mind." The goddess waves her hands in explanation.

"So about my powers-"

"Oh, hey looks like it's time for you to go! Hope to see you never!"

"Hey wait!" I cry out put everything fades away.

When I awoke I was in the women's quarters of the Merry lying on the one bed in the room. I found some clothes lying next to me, which I assumed were Nami's. I grabbed them and changed into them after taking a glorious shower. They were a little big on me, but it's better than nothing. With my staff assisting me I limped out with my heavily bandaged leg in tow. However, I was still not using my left arm because it too is bandaged. Outside I was met with cheering at my awakening and Nami filled me in with what had occurred with Igram blowing up and Robin appearing. I gave Vivi my condolences about Igram. Then I went to get my bag with my things in it.

Now I'm leaning against Merry's railing and am drawing in my water warped sketch book. Earlier while I was digging through my pockets I found a piece of charcoal, which I must have swiped from the art room at my school. Apparently I am such a good thief that not even I notice when I steal things. Nami would be proud. So now I'm contouring my drawing.

I hear someone walk up behind me, but I don't turn. I'm very focused while I draw, but also very hyper aware of details.

"Are you drawing Zoro?" I come out of my art induced trance. Turns out it was Usopp, the crews resident art expert.

"Hmm? Oh yeah, he's the only one who I can trust to stay still long enough for me to draw him. Although I could probably ask Sanji, I wouldn't want to distract him from cooking and most importantly pleasing Nami." The long nose snorts at that.

"Mind if I join you?" he seems to have brought a sketch book and pencil of his own.

"Sure, _sientate, _sit. Maybe we can compare when we're done." I smile, happy to have some company.

"Haha, the great Captain Usopp's will obviously be best!" He informs me confidently.

"You wish." I retort with a grin. We sit in companionable silence as our drawing implements scratch lightly at our respective papers. Mine is coming out nicely, the charcoal perfect for capturing the shadows on Zoro's face and for the wood of the deck and mast.

"How come you do that thing?" Usopp asks distractedly, in a way that almost makes it seem like an after thought.

"What thing?" I question after a minute, equally unfocused on the conversation.

"Like sometimes you'll say something and then you'll interject a word I don't get." The sniper specifies. I look up from my work and laugh a little.

"Oh, that, it's my first language, Spanish. I always speak it at home with my parents and sometimes it slips into my normal speech. My mother was from a country called Venezuela, but moved to Michigan where she met my father who moved there from Mexico. Both countries speak Spanish and they always spoke it to me from the day I was born. Michigan doesn't speak it though so that's how I became bilingual."

"Wow, that's pretty cool. My dad's a pirate so I haven't seen him in a while." He looks out at the ocean wistfully. I look to the horizon as well and feel as though I am searching for something, though I'm not quite sure what. My chest fells very empty all of a sudden so I take a deep breath to try and fill the void. The wind caresses my face gently.

"Do you ever miss him, your dad?" I ask curiously. Usopp seems to thing about it for a while.

"I guess, I used to, but now I'm a pirate too, so it feels like I'm a lot closer to him!" He grins at me. I nod cheerfully in understanding. We quietly draw for a while longer, till the sniper looks up again. "How about you? You said you don't even know how you got into the middle of the ocean; won't your family be worried about you?" My chest constricts a little at that.

"I…everything, has been happening so quickly that I haven't had time to think about it much, but yeah I do miss them and yeah, by now my parents will be wondering why I haven't come home from school. After they ask my friends if I was staying over with them, they'll realize I've disappeared." I exhale heavily, trying to remove the negativity simmering in my gut. "I wish I could just let them know I'm safe, but I don't even know how to get back." I lean backwards and rest my head on the railing. I hold my drawing to the light. Charcoal dust rains down on me like black snow. A little gets in my eyes or at least that's the reason I give myself as to why my eyes are stinging viciously. Usopp seems very uncomfortable with the situation. I blame him though. He started it.

"Yours is really good." he complements for lack of other things to say.

"Thanks." I sigh. I hear the slap of sandals upon wood. I look to the side and there stands Luffy grinning at me. "Luffy, I'm not really in the mood-"

"No, I just wanted to ask you something important!" Luffy says, sobering up. 'Uh oh, Luffy's serious, this could be bad'. He leans down and looks at my drawing, "Hey what's that?" He snatches the charcoal and sketch book from my hand and scratches something on it. My eyes widen in horror and fury. Luffy had drawn a mustache and glasses on my rendering of Zoro's face.

I hop up standing only on my right foot. My shaking clenched fists, narrowed eyes and grinding teeth betray my incessant rage.

"Why, you little-! _Te voy a matar!_" I pick up my staff and attempt to whack him with it, but he hops out of range and starts running for his life as he should. I hop after him on one foot shaking my staff furiously at him. I speed hobble after the rubber captain up and down the deck of the ship. I am very good at it because of the time I broke my foot. I nearly catch him on multiple occasions, but he manages to stretch out of the way each time. "Get back here! I'm gonna make sure you're head never attaches to your shoulders properly again!" I screech at the rubber man. I'm sure I looked absolutely ridiculous, but I really don't care at the moment.

"Lunch!" calls Sanji. I reluctantly cease my hobble chase and limp over to where the food was lying out. Sanji's cooking was to die for and that's coming from someone who's parents are both chefs in their own restaurant and who's brother wants to be chef. I try to continue glaring at Luffy over the table, but the delicious food and my own inability to hold a grudge for very long prevent me from keeping it up. Plus I don't think Luffy was even paying attention to me.

I am sitting next to Nami with Usopp on my other side. The latter seems glad that I'm no longer in a depressed mood. When we're done eating Vivi looks at my arm and leg.

"How are you holding up? You were doing a lot of running around earlier." She asks with raised eyebrows. I wave her off.

"I'm fine. I have a high pain threshold. When I was younger, and recently too, however less frequently, Juan and I would get into fights. He used to beat me up a lot, now that I think about it…he also would shoot at me with his nerf guns…wow I was seriously abused." I say with a laugh.

"WHAT?! WHO IS THIS BASTARD THAT WOULD DARE HURT MY ADORABLE LITTLE NITA-CHAN!?" An enraged Sanji had come up behind us, to give us our after lunch coffee.

"Well that escalated quickly." Nami says under her breath. I double over with laughter. Once I catch my breath I find the energy to reply.

"Oh, god, Sanji, Juan is my older brother and though it may have seemed as though we didn't get along, we are very close." I inform him with a grin while wiping tears out of my eyes. It wasn't even that funny, but these guys make everything a little brighter.

"Whaat, I didn't know you had an older brother, Nita!" Luffy exclaims through a mouthful of food.

"Seriously, you mean I haven't said anything about him this entire time?" I reply surprised. "Huh, well he's studying culinary arts in some big fancy college over seas to which he got a full ride." I tell the crew while leaning on my uninjured arm and sipping coffee.

"Really?" Surprise shows on Sanji's interested face and is underscored by the arch of his curly brow.

"Wow, that's cool! Is he as good as Sanji?" Luffy asks curiously. I shrug noncommittally.

"I have no idea. He refuses to cook for our parents and I until he's finished with his schooling. I don't know if he's self-conscious about it, or he's just so bad he's afraid if we eat his cooking we'll die of food poisoning."

"So can you cook, too?" inquires Nami.

"Well, yeah, I know a few recipes. My friends made me improve so I could cook stuff for them. All the food I know how to make are traditional food from my parents countries though ,tacos and empanadas and whatnot." Luffy gives me a confused stare.

"What are those?" He questions.

"Whaaat?! You mean you guys have never had empanadas _or_ tacos?" I look at them incredulously. They shake their heads, Sanji as well to my shock. "Okay then it's final next place where we can get the ingredients we'll stock up and, with Sanji's permission and assistance of course, I'll make you guys a whole ton of Mexican-Venezuelan food." I exclaim determinedly.

"Yes! PARTY!" Cheers Luffy. And so my first full conscious day on the merry passed.

A few days later the appearance of a giant Dolphin signified our arrival at Little Garden. My leg was mostly healed and my arm was improved. I no longer needed my staff to walk, but I still carry it around with me. Now it hangs on my back from a strap Usopp modified for me. I still wear some borrowed clothes from Nami, but take my hoodie with me everywhere.

"How come it looks nothing like it's cute name implies?"

"Looks tropical to me."

"It's not very little is it?"

"These trees, I've never seen anything like them before." The comments of the crew ring out across the deck of the ship. The same is true for the shriek of a passing bird and Nami's subsequent scream of fear. Sanji proceeds to do his usually compliments and vows of protection.

An explosive rumble shook the forest and soon following that a tiger fell from the underbrush.

"Wow this seems like such a nice place, I wonder why people don't come here more often." I comment dryly.

"Yeah, um I'm staying here till the Log pose memorizes the frequency." Nami tells us.

"M-me, too!" agrees Usopp.

"Sanji…prepare the PIRATE LUNCHBOX!" Luffy shouts enthusiastically. " I smell adventure!"

"Do you mind if I go with you?" Vivi asks tentatively.

"You, too!?" Nami exclaims in surprise.

" I don't like having too much time to think, I'd rather keep moving. Plus Carue will be with me." The duck doesn't look to thrilled about that.

"I have to agree with Vivi, I hope you don't mind if I join you guys." I add.

"I'll get some food ready for all of you." Sanji tells us, while sticking his head out of the kitchen. After he was done we set off.

"Alright, let's go! We'll be back soon!" I run next to Luffy while Vivi rides Carue. We speed through the huge jungle. I nearly trip a few times, but I'm having fun. Suddenly we stumble upon a giant long necked animal protruding from the trees before us.

"Dinosaur!" screams Vivi.

"Dinosaur!" grins Luffy. I laugh at their antics.

"This must be a prehistoric island." I say. Vivi begins explaining how the grandline's unique conditions allows whole ecosystems out of time to be thriving on an island. In the meanwhile Luffy climbs the long necked beast.

"Wow there's a great view up here! Nita come see!" He shouts down. I wave my hands and shake my head 'no'.

"No thanks Luffy-" I try to decline his offer, but a rubbery arm wraps around my waist and I am flung into the heavens. I scream like there's no tomorrow. Luckily for me Luffy manages to get me to land on the dinosaurs head. I let out a sigh of relief.

Then I make the fatal mistake of looking down. I drop to my stomach and cling to the rough skin of the dinosaur for dear life. My limbs are shaking, and my heart pounds out a hundred beats per second. '_Ay dios, ay dios, ay dios_…oh my god I'm slipping!' I start screaming again as I tumble off the neck off the monsterous creature. Luffy tries to stretch out a hand to grab me, but I've already fallen too far for his arm to catch up. I flail my arms desperately. My hands start to tingle a little then more. Suddenly I've stopped, but I haven't hit the ground. There wasn't enough impact for that. I crane my neck to look down, which once again was a huge mistake because I am still at a dizzying height, being suspended in mid air by some invisible force. I shriek rips from my throat and I am shot into the sky once again, in a flailing blob of arms and legs.

**Well there's that. Finally finished, it might take me a while to update the next chapter though, because I have the feeling it's going to be a busy week. Just letting you know. **

**Translations:**

_Sientate- sit_

_Te voy a matar- I'll kill you_

_Ay dios- my god_


	5. Chapter 5: That One Airbender

**I've not given up on this story yet, no worries. I was just busy for the past weeks with tests, and sickness, but I'm back now and full of ideas. Hopefully they're good ones. Thanks again to everyone who's followed, favorited and reviewed! I don't know what I'd do without you. Unfortunately I still don't own One Piece or Avatar the last Airbender and probably never will, but an author can dream, right?**

THANK GOD FOR TREES. Trees are officially my new favorite things, especially large, tropical, prehistoric ones. You can count me among the tree huggers now, mostly because I'm actually hugging a tree and less because I'm an environmentalist. You can't be fighting for your environment when you're hanging out with crew of destructive pirates. No, I think I will just stick to liking trees. This tree is rather rough and uncomfortable though and I'm still rather high up, which is something I'm trying to avoid thinking about. Maybe if I slide down, slowly, gently..._oh shi-_

"AAHG!" I slipped, again and am now suffering from sever tree burn. My arms sting fiercly and are bleeding from cuts all over them. I sigh exaustedly, and pick my staff up from the ground. I had better start walking. If I recall properly there are all manners of large and carnivorous beasts lurkng here. The scent of blood will probably not send them off my trail, unless they have sense of direction like Zoro.

It's hot and humid, not to different from a Michigan summer. I can literally feel my hair expanding. 'Maybe this time I will actually have an afro' I think while wiping sweat off my brow and out from under the bridge of my glasses. I feel a squelching at my feet and realize I've stepped in mud, again. Perhaps this is a good time to try out my devil fruit... but I really don't want what happened earlier with the flying to happen again. I am still shaking because of that. Now I'm probably Aerophobic as well, great. Love my life.

Well I'm going to have to figure out how this works eventually, otherwise it will definitely occur again. I'm not quite sure how I did it last time. I assume it was an instinctive reaction. I should probably keep going while I think about this though. I continue to trek through the forest. All the while considering my new powers. So what if I convince myself it's supposed to happen?

I spend the next half our telling myself that a breeze will come from my finger if I point. I also spend the next our failing horribly. I picture the wind in my mind in front of me while I walk. When I feel a breath of wind around me I get excited, but then I realize it was just the actual wind. I hear a chuckle from behind me. I turn, but there's no one there. I drop into a crouch, prepared and alert. Could it be Mr. three already? A quiet laugh rings in the moist still air again. No this laugh is too feminine and oddly familiar. It also seems to be coming from below me more than any other direction. I chance a look down at the forest floor. Nothing other than what I would expect. A lot of dirt, some small weeds and stuggling trees searching for any light that passes the canopy. There's something odd though. I squint at the ground. The only other thing was my shadow... Wait it's noon why is my shadow so tall. Also it's rather dark under the roof that the shadow shouldn't be so prominent. That shape looks suspicously familiar as well.

I straighten up and glare at the shadow. "Airez." She starts cracking up as though it's the funniest thing ever.

"HAHA! You should'a seen you're face!" She officially wins the prize for most expressive shadow ever because she managed to look spitefully while being a dark blob on the forest floor.

I sigh, the loud breath heavy with exasperation. "What do you want, can't you see I'm in the middle of something?" That something being more specifically a forest.

"I mostly just came to laugh at you, but I also thought I might tell you that you're doing it wrong." A crecent moon shap opens up on her shaowy head in place of a grin.

"Wow, thanks, like I couldn't have figured _that_ out on my own." I relax my posture and cross my arms. Sarcasm always makes me feel a little better.

"No, no, no. You weren't thinking about it right. Like...if you wanna control the wind you gotta be like it. You're too...stiff." What's that supposed to mean?

"Great, thanks for nothing Airez. Please never possess my shadow again and leave." Surprisingly she did disappear, but I barely registered that because a heartstopping roar shook the surrounding trees and unearthed some roots. I turn slowly and see a huge panther that is at least ten times my size. Ok maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but I'm pretty small and fear made it seem pretty damn big. I don't even bother with screaming, the adrenalin that has just rushed into my system propells my legs. I feel the earth shake with the footsteps of the hug cat and I will my legs to move faster. I zigsag between the trees like a scared rabbit.

Suddenly a large fallen tree block my path. I have no time to move around it. Time seems to slow as I tense into a crouch and feel every single muscle in my leg become taut. Then I spring forward in an enourmous leap that reminded me of when I took ballet when I was six. A gust of wind to my back pushes me over the tree. As I land in an unbalanced roll I have a moment to think that I clearly should have been a hurdle jumper. I pretty sure that gust was my powers at work again. It seems to only happen in dire situations though. I bounce back to my fee and narrowly avoid being crushed by a huge pair of black furry and notably scarred paws. What had Airez said again? Be more like the wind... Well it's worth a try.

I think about the wind. Blowing dryly over dunes of sand. Swirling leaves in the chilly air. Blasting cold into a heated house. Sweeping over a desolate plain. I change my stride from sprinting to bounding, extending my legs with every step I take. The wind picks up behind me and starts pushing on my back and on my feet on every stride. I feel like I'm running on clouds. My spirits are soaring, I'm ecstatic. I'm out pacing the panther by a lot now. At this speed I could probably run to the otherside of the island easily. The rumble of a volcanoe prevents me from even trying. The shaking causes me to lose my balance and I fall. At least the panther is pretty far back now.

I sit up groaning and rub my aching body parts. I may be able to go pretty fast by using my devil fruit, but it's pretty exhausting. I stretch out my rapidly cramping legs while watching the two giants run up and fight a thunderous battle, which isn't anything special if you were expecting it. But it's definitely cooler in real life, than it is when you're just reading or watching it. I sit there for a while, resting and staring up at the large forms clashing above the line of trees. Twirling my finger in a circle I create a mini tornado in the palm of my hand. It dissapates quickly after I stop the motion.

"_Bueno! _Looks like I'm finally getting the hang of this. Maybe I can actually make this work." I say to no one in particular. I think I'm also getting what Airez said, but what was with her randomly popping into my shadow. That seems like it'll get irritating if she keeps doing it. I don't need her nagging at me. Well I'll deal with her wen the time comes.

I stand back up and brush off my pants when the giants finish their fight. I bend over and grasp my staff and then raise it in an indulgent stretch. I fumble and drop it. A crack emmits from where it lands and I hop back in surprise because it's opened up and expanded. The sides have popped out so now two wooden sticks a little shorter than half the size of the entire staff extend from the main pole opposite from each other. Attatched to them is a half moon shape of a light but durable fabric. It looks like its some sort of glider. Apparently the universe is determind to make me an airbender, but I'll probably never use the glider because well, heights and me...yeah we already went over this.

In any case, I fold the glider back into a staff and start walking. As I continue to aimlessly wander the forest, I realize that I have no idea where I'm supposed to be going. I guess I could head in the directions each of giants went, respectively, but then I risk getting caught up in the Mr. 3, Miss Goldenweek business, which, at my current level, I probably can't do anything about. It'd be better if I run into one of the crew memebers or if I find the Merry. Well nothing I can do about it right now, perhaps I should practice with my windy powers some more so that if I do have to fight I'll have some semblance of control over them.

Returning to the Airbender thought, what if I imitated some of the moves? I mean it might not work exactly the same way, but maybe I can get some ideas. I play around with some arm motions, twisting and waving and so on. I do manage to create some decent bursts of air, but nothing too fancy. I spend most of the time thinking '_You have to be the leaf, Juanita!'_. I guess this will take a lot of practice. Well at least I'm in a better mood than before.

A growl vibrates the air around me. My shoulders sink forward. I narrow my eyes and tighten my grip on my staff, then I spin on my heel and charge the panther lurking in the shadows of the towering trees. I grind my teeth to suppress a shout of rage.

"_GATO ESTUPIDO!_ I WAS FEELING NICE ABOUT MY SELF, BUT THEN YOU HAD TO COME AND RUIN IT!" This dumb cat was about to pay for its crimes. I jump and use the air to push me up to its height and land on its head. I also avoid looking down. The furry black beast seems shocked at my abilites. Serves it right. I slash at the panthers had with my staff plus a gust of wind for extra damage. The creature hisses and shakes it's head furiously. I am thrown screaming into the air, but I am able to slow my fall with a cushion of air. "Phew that was close." I sigh relievedly as my feet touch the ground. However my relief is short lived because the panther is pouncing at me. I use a breath of wind to push myself out of the way and then I turn and lift my staff abov my head. I feel a fluttering in my stomach that comes with using my powers as I redirect the energy to my staff. Aiming with my left hand, I throw my staff, the time made into a spike with air, like a deadly javelin. I threw it with so much force that it goes straight through the horrified giant panther's side. Whoops... It lets out an earsplitting screach, after gurgling a bit it died, the wound in it's side oozing blood onto the dirt where it fell.

I force myself to watch it die because I did that, I just killed it. If I can't handle that how am I supposed to handle being around a pirate crew? So I watch and apologize for killing it, but also remind it that if it hadn't attacked me it might still be among the living. Then I continue on my way.

I found my staff buried in the trunk of a tree. I struggle to remove it despite that burst of super human strength I experienced during the fight. I end up in the dirt for the billionth time today after I got it out. I then stomp my exasperation away and completely ignore the fact that the two giants were fighting again, or that Dorry was defeated, but then I saw a figure that looked like Zoro leaning against a tree.

I stop and squint at him for a second. Why is he grinning like that? If I remember properly at this time Zoro was...lost and was captured by Mr. 3. Oh shoot, that's gotta be one of Mr.3's wax statues! I forgot that they had a picture of me, so they're gonna want to catch me too. I start to sprint with my with wind induced speed bursts before the candle wax could trap me. When I stop I'm even more disorriented than I was before if that's even possible. If only little garden lived up to it's name.

Eventually I come upon a little wax house in the middle of the jungle. I recognized it immediately and creep towards it wearily. Suddenly I am once again in close quarters with a tree. 'Wow, tree, I like you, but only as a friend. I am sorry I can't return your feelings...' Maybe I shouldn't have said all that stuff about loving trees.

**Wow was it just me or was this chapter a little wimpy? It was mostly just stuff that needed to happen but I didn't want to write about. Also for some reason Auto correct doesn't work anymore so I apologize for any typos. Well at least Nita has things a little more under control. Reveiws appreciated as always!**

**Translations**

_Bueno - Alright/good_

_GATO ESTUPIDO- stupid cat_


End file.
